“I follow the principles of my conscience, and I am ready to die and sacrifice my life for the principles I believe.”— Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s minister for minorities and a Catholic who refuses to stop speaking against his country’s blasphemy law even though he is a target for assassination by pro-Taliban religious extremists

“For over three decades, Americans have come together in what may be the only truly bipartisan agreement possible: That whatever our differences on the underlying question of legality, we agree that the federal government should not subsidize abortions with taxpayer dollars.” — Cathy Cleaver Ruse, senior fellow for legal studies at the Family Research Council and a former spokeswoman for the U.S. bishops on pro-life issues, testifying Feb. 8 on a House bill that would make permanent a ban on federal funding of abortion

“I hope my song encourages people to think of how they live their lives according to the Gospel call, to love and serve others.”— Nick Cardilino, a University of Dayton campus minister whose original song, ‘Called to Glory,’ will be the anthem for the 2011 National Catholic Youth Conference in November